JUST IN: Hunter Biden Was Paid $3M By Romanian Oligarch While Joe Was VP, Prosecutors Say

Officials with the office of special counsel David Weiss indicated on Wednesday that Hunter Biden was working at the direction of a wealthy Romanian oligarch who hired him to influence his father and the White House on policies that would be beneficial, a reminder that the embattled first son’s criminal matters won’t be disappearing just because President Joe Biden isn’t running for reelection.

The Romanian businessman hired Hunter to “influence U.S. government agencies” while his father still served as vice president, prosecutors alleged in filings obtained by ABC News. The disclosure marks the closest authorities have come in tying the president to potential criminal activity by his family. In his tax fraud case, Hunter is claimed to have been hired by Gabriel Popoviciu who at the time was facing a corruption trial in his home country. The government, Weiss’s deputies wrote, will “introduce the evidence … that [Hunter Biden] and Business Associate 1 received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and cause the United States to investigate the Romanian investigation of [Popoviciu] in Romania.”

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In addition, they write, evidence suggests that Hunter and Popoviciu “were concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications for the defendant’s father” and that they structured their business agreement in a way to “conceal the true nature of the work [Hunter] was performing.” The deal proved fruitful; between 2015 and 2017, Hunter split more than $3 million earned from Popoviciu between himself and two other business partners. Now, he faces three counts of felony tax charges and additional misdemeanors with some stemming from the business agreement. A total of $1.4 million was previously paid back by Biden’s attorney Kevin Morris to compensate for sums owed for work performed between 2016 and 2020.

Curiously, Weiss stopped short of charging Hunter with violating laws that would have required him to register as a foreign agent attempting to influence American policy, an allegation that critics of President Biden have floated as another potential wrongdoing. Prosecutor David Hines wrote in the filings that his office does not plan to assert that Hunter “improperly coordinated with the Obama administration” but will go right up to the line as part of a bare-knuckle legal strategy. The New York Times added that Weiss will rely on testimony from a Hunter Biden business associate who stated that “political ramifications” were considered as part of the group’s decision to stop Hunter from registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.

Weiss has already scored a conviction against Hunter Biden on charges that he was actively using hard drugs when he purchased a handgun in 2018, violating federal laws. The embattled first son has openly struggled with drug addiction and jeopardized himself when prosecutors used his own words from a 2021 memoir in which he claims to have been heavily smoking crack cocaine at the time he purchased the weapon. Defense attorney have sought to dismiss charges related to business deals done during the period in time, including with Popviciu, citing Hunter’s addiction.

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